1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic apparatus for transferring bulk quantities of solid objects such as, for example, medication in the form of pills, tablets, capsules, etc., into individual unit dose packages for subsequent sealing and end use. The apparatus of this invention is characterized by its construction including a series of three plates, the middle one of which is movable and specifically designed and configured to receive individual ones of the solid objects therein for transferring those objects from the bulk supply to the unit dose packages. Thus, depending upon size and shape characteristics chosen for the middle plate, or shuttle means, of the apparatus and the shuttle apertures formed therethrough, the apparatus of this invention is dedicated to automatic delivery of a particular size and shape object. Simple mechanical replacement of the shuttle means will dedicate the apparatus for use in automatically packaging other objects. The apparatus is further characterized by its inclusion of a mechanical stirring means, the action of which virtually guarantees that each unit dose receptacle will be properly filled. A second embodiment is disclosed and comprises the use of spacer means and riser means whereby different sized objects may be delivered without changing the shuttle means.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Within the medical service profession, it often occurs that a particular patient is to receive a unit dose of medication at regularly occurring intervals such as, for example, once a day. Both for purposes of insuring that medication is properly administered and taken, as well as for maintaining effective cost control, it is quite common to administer such regularly repeating doses of medication by packaging the medication in blister cards containing individually sealed doses for a week, a month, or longer. Such cards are commonly referred to within the profession as "bingo cards."
Just as the use of bingo cards for packaging unit doses of solid medication is quite common, so is an inherent difficulty associated with the preparation of such cards. Basically, two means are available today for filling the open card blisters with medication. According to one method that is available, very sophisticated and expensive machinery is utilized for the purpose of filling and sealing cards in rapid succession. Such machines are well known in the prior art and are commonly used by pharmaceutical manufacturers. A second means of preparing the cards for end use is often employed by individual health care facilities.
This second means is extremely labor-intensive, for it involves hand-filling each blister of a bingo card and then sealing the card with a rupturable material. Not surprisingly, a search of prior art patent literature reveals numerous examples of automatic dispensing and filling devices useful for depositing solid objects such as pills into multi cavity cards and strips. However, as can be seen upon reviewing the devices of such patents, the machines are relatively complex and are generally suitable for use in dispensing one particular sized and shaped object into one particular receptacle.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,545,164 to Middleton teaches an apparatus for segregating, orienting and packaging capsules into an open bingo card. According to the disclosure of Middleton, the device was specifically designed and constructed to overcome orientation problems associated with packaging elongated items. No means are disclosed or suggested whereby the Middleton device could be modified for packaging items other than capsules. U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,694 to Nichols discloses a device useful for packaging medicaments in the form of tablets. The device of Nichols is disclosed as being useful for packaging continuous strips of tablets in spaced blisters formed in a thermoplastic material, and delivery of the tablets to the strips is controlled by the rotation of a plate through which the tablets fall. Yet another pertinent prior art disclosure is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,284 to Difiglio. While the Difiglio dispenser is disclosed as being useful for dispensing beads used in conducting immunologic assays, it does disclose the use of an apertured, sliding plate to regulate delivery of beads in a predetermined fashion. The seed plater disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,205 to Rogers is also deemed pertinent in that the planter of that invention also utilizes a sliding plate to control and deliver seeds from a seed hopper into planting flats. The following U.S. Patents are illustrative of other assemblies used for counting or segregating individual items by the use of either a sliding or rotating plate mechanism:
Hull, U.S. Pat. No. 964,782 PA1 Query, U.S. Pat. No. 1,597,246 PA1 Cookson, U.S. Pat. No. 2,801,025 PA1 Martell, U.S. Pat. No. 3,281,012
While it can thus be seen from the prior art cited and discussed above that various and sundry mechanisms are known for delivering and/or packaging a wide variety of solid objects, none specifically disclose means whereby the apparatus may be easily and efficiently modified to accommodate objects of various sizes and configurations. Furthermore, while some of the prior art patents do disclose means for stirring or agitating the primary source of material being dispensed, such means are quite item specific. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, in those prior art devices utilizing a three plate mechanism to control the dispensing operation, all three plates are designed and constructed to accommodate a single predetermined size and shape configuration for the article being dispensed. If it were desirable to modify the prior art devices so that they could be utilized for dispensing a different sized and/or shaped product, replacement of all three plates would be required.
It is therefore clear that there is a great need in the art for a simple, yet efficient and economical, means for dispensing solid objects into a receptacle placed downstream of the dispensing apparatus. Such a device should be capable, with only minor modification, of dispensing objects of widely differing size and shape. Furthermore, such an apparatus should also be capable of dispensing a plurality of like objects in a variety of predetermined, spaced arrays so as to permit filling of a like variety of receptacles, or cards.